SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Cancer patients’ access to affordable chemotherapy they can take at home will continue to be protected if Governor Jerry Brown signs legislation passed last week. Assembly Bill (AB) 1860 extends a law helping to equalize out-of-pocket costs for oral chemotherapy and intravenous chemotherapy.
The legislation was sponsored by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the California Affiliates of Susan G. Komen, the Association of Northern California Oncologists and the Medical Oncology Association of Southern California.
“Some of the most effective cancer therapies now emerging are only available in pill form. Oral chemotherapy is also easier for some patients to take, which is why they stay on their treatment and that leads to faster recovery and overall cost savings,” said ACS CAN California Legislative Director Autumn Ogden-Smith. “We urge Governor Brown to sign this critically important legislation.”
This year, scores of ACS CAN volunteer cancer advocates met with lawmakers in April during Cancer Day at the Capitol to help pass cancer-fighting legislation including AB 1860, which was introduced this session by Assemblymembers Monique Limon and Sabrina Cervantes.
The legislation extends the sunset on the state’s oral chemotherapy fairness law to 2024 and ensures that health care service plans and health insurers charge no more than $250 per filled prescription for orally administered anti-cancer medication.
More than 40 other states, plus the District of Columbia, have enacted legislation to make oral anti-cancer medications more affordable.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
CONTACT:
Steph Winn
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
[email protected]
(916) 802-4033